best big iconic classic rock studio double LP of the 1960s and 1970s

Dylan over the Stones

in before the (tedious) lists of what you missed

Trout Mask Replica!

Never liked Blonde on Blonde that much, nor Tommy, despite liking Dylan and The Who a great deal. The ones in the 70s are all o-kay, but it's really between Jimi and The Beatles for me. Beatles by a nose I think.

Thought about quibbling, but nah, Uncle Meat definitely doesn't count as a classic rock album. From that batch, I'd go Hendrix - Stones - Zeppelin as the top 3.

OK, seriously. EOTM

EOMS! Sorry

yeah it's between Jimi and the Beatles for me too, the rest are firmly in the "even if this was a single LP i like another album(s) by this act way more" category

xpost

exile is the best 'album', the white album has better songs

not huge on any of the others

Thought about quibbling, but nah, Uncle Meat definitely doesn't count as a classic rock album. From that batch, I'd go Hendrix - Stones - Zeppelin as the top 3.
― L.P. Hovercraft (WmC), Tuesday, August 23, 2011 9:49 PM (29 seconds ago)

last week i sat down with Exile and gave it a nice attentive listen and still came out just wanting to listen to Sticky Fingers instead.

oh, I wrote my post before seeing yours, Iago

Kind of feel like At Fillmore East and/or Eat a Peach could be included. Though both are live, they do define the Allmans at their artistic peak, it seems. Then again, neither would come close to winning.

double live is definitely a whole bag unto itself

For accuracy we should probably mention Eat a Peach is a mix of live and studio tracks.

I'm voting for Hendrix. Such an insane mindfuck of an album, even if I've committed it to memory. Blonde on Blonde is a kinda/sorta close second.

So London Calling isn't an 80s album or a 70s album?

This is a difficult poll.

ha Alex -- i dunno Clash just didn't feel classic rock-y enough for this one. would definitely in a 60s/70s runoff poll.

LC feels like an 80s album to me. It wasn't included in the poll mentioned above?

Bitches Brew feels like a classic rock album to me.

Haha I'm fine with excluding it here, it just feels mean that they were also explicitly excluded from the 80s poll too!

London Calling could have been included (barring chronology), hasn't it always had that "classic" vibe about it

It was released the last week of 1979 wasn't it? Rolling Stone made it their #1 album of the 80s back in 1989.

no chicago transit authority?

no chicago II?

no chicago III?

Exile on Main Street, followed by Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, which holds up quite well and is as perverse and thrilling as any Who or Stones record.

Hendrix, followed by the Stones/Beatles/Zep in some order depending on the day.

GYBR is incredible, very overlooked imho (I'm sure call all destroyer loves it-see Zep poll results thread)

Exile, then a toss-up between the White Album and Blonde on Blonde depending on mood. Layla seems like the most obvious omission, although it's not a favourite of mine.

This poll fucking rules

exile followed by blonde followed by graffiti followed by trout mask followed by layla followed by goodbye ybr followed by fly followed by freak out followed by america eats its young followed by electric ladyland followed by the white album followed by chicago transit authority followed by the wall followed by tommy

those floyd albums suck

I do love Blonde on Blonde but I forget to listen to it.

*those floyd & who albums suck

i need a new keyboard that works

I might have voted for Ummagumma.

tusk beyond classic rock obv, beyond mankind itself possibly, but it's right behind graffiti in my rankings, which is pretty fucking high in my rankings

I almost got into a drunken bar brawl w/a guy this weekend over me playing the 1st 3 exile tracks on the jukebox, but I don't want to sully the results of this badass poll with a vote based on recent raw emotion.

London Calling could have been included (barring chronology), hasn't it always had that "classic" vibe about it

― Iago Galdston, Tuesday, August 23, 2011 10:12 PM (15 minutes ago) Bookmark

it's a classic album and it's a rock album but it's not a classic rock album

yeah it's the most classic rock punk album ever obv but it doesn't really belong there any more than rattle and hum

yes, that's true, some dude

*those floyd & who albums suck

That reminds me, I almost insisted on the Who's inclusion in the jazz poll...haha...

Tommy's depressingly weak for being a Moon-in-his-prime document, despite the fact that it contains one of the most mindblowing drum performances on record ("Pinball Wizard").

if i listen to tommy it's the one on the deluxe live at leeds

Ditto. Tommy was exponentially better live than on record.

Blonde on Blonde followed by The Beatles = Exile On Main St..

I didn't get the memo on when Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs stopped being a big iconic classic rock studio double LP.

i guess it's technically 'by' Clapton but i was going generally by the thoguht that Derek And The Dominoes don't really carry the kind of name recognition as the 8 acts listed above

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98P-gu_vMRc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pVihntUEVw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Itv6Kt8M-v4

I guess it's technically 'by' Clapton but i was going generally by the thoguht that Derek And The Dominoes don't really carry the kind of name recognition as the 8 acts listed above

Fair point. It's too bad Clapton and Duane Allman were never able to record more albums together.

Exile #1
Physical Graffiti #2

i prefer quadrophenia to tommy

Electric ladyland. would've definitely voted for Layla, though

Of these, Exile probably took the longest to "take" but it the only one that still can swallow me whole. The breadth of the white album is still astonishing but I never actually just listen to it. And f a hater, the high points of the wall and physical graffiti are pretty much impossible to top. Like, Kashmir and Comfortably Numb tower over any one track on Exile, but as an aaaaalbum maaaaan... Exile all the way.

I too would have voted for the one that isn't there - Derek and the Dominoes - which unlike the Clash certainly belongs to the genre and time period generally today referred to as "classic rock" (as much as it's thought of as a Clapton album or a Clapton/D. Allman collaboration, Bobby Whitlock's contribution nearly equals Clapton's and exceeds Allman's). I'll assume it's not included here because it's a one-off effort rather than part of a large discography as with all included in the polled

As for the albums listed here, close call for me between Beatles, Zep, Stones (probably tightest album), maybe Who. The others are great too, but these are my faves. All of these have loads of tracks that would never make it onto a decent single album, but the sprawl is part of the appeal of a good double album, the strange stuff that would never see the light of day on an official release otherwise.

Exile
Layla
Ladyland
Graffiti
Blonde

Would have voted TMR.

Did vote white album.

Nearly voted Blonde on Blonde.

The rest I'm unfussed by.

Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything qualifies if Elton's opus does. similarly i would include Layla and Tusk but not London Calling.

quibbles aside i'll probably vote for the white album or Physical Graffiti

like em all except The Wall

The Who's Quadrophenia was a gigantic favorite of my crowd back in the day, not sure how it's held up. doesn't seem to be regarded as a iconic classic then or now

I got a good copy second hand, but man it's so damn big and heavy!

It begs to be played all the way through, whereas other doubles are OK if you want to pay one side.

play one side, obv.

Picking "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" out of these. Might have gone for "Quadrophenia":

Of the choices here, probably Physical Graffiti followed closely by Exile. Have to add to the chorus of "woulda voted for Layla if I could".

have to go for white album.

Picked "Exile" over Zep, Dylan, and the Beatles ... I should listen to the Hendrix again. The Who and Floyd albums are not among my favorites for those bands. Not ready to revisit Elton John yet.

Blonde on Blonde, closely followed by Exile and Ladyland.

WHERE IS ALL THINGS MUST PASS

went with White Album narrowly over Exile due to greater breadth

triple album
xp

not a big fan of any of these. something about the tempo in all of them really puts me off, idk

Quadrophenia.

Really feel like Something/Anything should be in this poll

also Odessa

Also Songs in the Key of Life?

ELO- Out of the Blue

ha, i'd take odessa over all of these

lol am I the only person on ILX who really, really likes The Wall

i will be the one guy who votes for the wall. so there.

gybr also a contender. hate tommy.

hahaha xpost

weve really got to stop doing things like that

you would think that 20 years of living in separate cities would put a damper on this type of thing, but no

I think I'd probably rank these the same order they appear here but really it's very close between Dylan/Hendrix/Beatles and the only one I actively dislike is The Wall (and even that kind of fascinates me in a weird way, precisely because it sounds so ugly).

lol am I the only person on ILX who really, really likes The Wall

― Rob Based and DJ EZ God (DJP), Wednesday, August 24, 2011 2:41 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark

Nope! But I still voted for the Beatles.

I find the Wall utterly ridiculous. Tommy is ridiculous too, but in a more fun way.

it has all the thematic stuff the Wall does (the absent dad who died in WWII, abusive authority figures, a messiah complex) plus PINBALL

Also, it was funny. The Wall wasn't funny. Well, not intentionally.

Voted for Elton. There are two or three duds on it, but otherwise it's pretty solid.

Tommy took a long time to click for me - I always thought it was kind of patchy but I listened to it about a year ago for the first time in ages and the whole thing just sounded so great, there's a real tightness to the songwriting and playing I think (plus the production is amazing, it's one of the best-sounding rock records of any era).

exile

for me it's
blonde on blonde
white album
exile
ladyland

not all that crazy about the others...

Have never heard Electric Ladyland, Tommy, Exile on Main Street, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road or Physical Graffiti. Voted White Album.

Jimi for me, best side three ever.

Have never heard Electric Ladyland, Tommy, Exile on Main Street, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road or Physical Graffiti.

That's seriously the second-saddest thing I've heard this week.

I've never heard Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and have no inclination to. I own Electric Ladyland but never listen to it. Tommy is kind of repetitive and silly but I can get into it. White Album, Exile, and PG are regulars.

I love Something/Anything--I'd probably take my three favourite songs off of that over anything on the list--but I don't know that it quite belongs with the others. It seems more like one of those quirky doubles to me, like Freak Out! or Trout Mask Replica, and only the two hits ever show up on the radio. Layla and All Things Must Pass, yes. Songs in the Key of Life, no, only to the extent that it doesn't get played on classic-rock radio, at least not where I am. ("I Wish" maybe once every few months.)

I started thinking about some of the people who didn't make double-albums (studio, non-live/compilation): Neil Young, the Grateful Dead, the Jefferson Airplane, the Band, the Doors...not sure why, they were all the rage for artists who considered themselves important.

yeah, seems like Neil missed out by not putting out some kind of double LP in the 70s -- he certainly had the material! maybe he thought it was passe.
Decade comes closest to fitting in with the rest of these, but that's obviously a greatest hits.

Not a studio album but when was live rust?

Not having Tusk, Quadrophenia, or Layla on here is asinine.

I'm going to mention The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway before Geir does.

Dark horse candidates: Something/Anything?, Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, Metal Machine Music

'78 I think
xp

recorded 78, released 79

Basement TApes
Spirit

xp

Anyway, would roll one on a bunch of these

Spirit of 76 btw, poxy fule fingers

lol am I the only person on ILX who really, really likes /The Wall/
--Rob Based and DJ EZ God (DJP)

I dunno about really, really, but I like it and I'll defend it. Mind-blowing achievement. Had me at "mother" (which is also the first guitar solo I learned to play).

I just like Exile more.

Even though Fleetwood Mac often regarded as a "classic rock" act, Tusk doesn't quite fit the mold - it's an experimental, almost new-wave album by a classic-rock band. Must've been a shock to anyone expecting Rumours: the Sequel.

I don't see much of a difference between Tusk and Exile really. Except maybe the drugs the bands were on.

"Out Of The Blue" is one of my all time favourite double albums, but it is less iconic than those others, and not at all "rock".

My fave double album of all this era would be "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" btw.

I think deciding what belongs on the list depends on how you interpret the thread title: "classic rock studio double LP" or "classic-rock studio double LP"? I instinctively read the title as if the hyphen were there, so my interpretation rests upon what actually gets played on classic-rock radio stations. Viewed that way, I wouldn't include Tusk for the same reason I wouldn't include Songs in the Key of Life (but even more so): I have never heard a single song from Tusk played on Toronto's Q-107. Fleetwood Mac is pretty much limited to Fleetwood Mac and Rumours on the classic-rock station here--they get played all the time, but only those two LPs. But if you just read "classic" to mean great or important, then you can make a good case that Tusk and a few others belong.

I've never heard Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and have no inclination to.

Even as someone who has really grown to dislike Sir Elton over the years, I can honestly say it's pretty amazing.

Every song on GYBR, even the failures, generates its own discrete weirdness. Why wouldn't you listen to it, Shakey?

Voted 'The White Album' because really you could put together any poll and put 'The White Album' in it and I would just HAVE to vote for it. It's an instinct.

i also like the wall, but (apart from comfortably numb) would probably rather listen to any other 70s floyd record

exile over physical graffiti; not particularly close

would also support 'at fillmore east' (though not to win)

and though 'sway' is just amazing the second half of sticky fingers is boring

it is mathematically impossible for Sticky Fingers to have more boring songs than Exile though

it is mathematically challenging, but by no means impossible, or, you know, actual

Nothing on Exile is as boring as "Can You Hear Me Knocking" or as gross as "You Gotta Move."

I'll grant you that the trio with which the album closes kills me.

"Can't You Hear Me Knocking" is brilliant for the first two minutes, though--after that, I agree, boring.

2:43, to be precise. I just checked.

And if this doesn't, um, sway anybody's vote, I don't what would.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lNP-x94-SE&feature=related

i am totally indifferent to "rocks off"

ok

you have no soul

also mookie otm

and though 'sway' is just amazing the second half of sticky fingers is boring

― mookieproof, Thursday, August 25, 2011 12:33 AM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark

Oh, man...I know nobody will agree with this, but I look at that, and it just confirms my belief that they're more or less a cartoon after Exile. Some good songs, yes, but never again so monumental. Looking at that is like looking at Dylan in '66.

Not so monumental but almost as much fun -- sometimes as much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GugjdJzMePw

i love dozens of Stones songs, don't know why not caring about one in particular means i have no soul

"Too Much Blood" is so much a better song and performance than "Can't You Hear Me Knocking."

yeah that's fun (and it's cool that a band could muster it after 20 years) but also kind of beside the point xp

okay, you probably have a soul, but your ears are totally broken

yeah that's fun (and it's cool that a band could muster it after 20 years) but also kind of beside the point xp

^^^

That's a "Some Guys Have All the Luck" vs. "Gasoline Alley" argument from which I will back away...

i wonder what the lex thinks

about "Too Much Blood"?

That's a "Some Guys Have All the Luck" vs. "Gasoline Alley" argument from which I will back away...

More like "Young Turks" vs "Sailing"

some dude i'm just kidding by the way, i am just shocked when someone can respond to that song, a little surprised. that song is like a 3-4 minute party.

can't respond, obviously

As an example of how not even Jagger could maintain his pace as Mick Jagger, "Rocks Off" is perfect. All those slurred vowels would become such a loathsome mannerism on the next two records.

FAHL SO MEZZZ-MURR-IZZED.

As an example of how not even Jagger could maintain his pace as Mick Jagger,

dude this makes zero sense

I'm not the one named "que"

you're drunk

I guess I won't back away. I played a few a seconds from the middle of the "Too Much Blood" video and had to shut it off. Jagger's ludicrous.

http://dinzo.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/manuel-fawlty-towers-290.jpg

Que?

i wonder what the lex thinks

i suppose he might like 'too much blood' assuming he's heard the rolling stones? his dismissals of anything he hasn't listened to or dislikes are priceless tho

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Moonlight Mile > the first side of Sticky Fingers (Brown Sugar excepted)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

i may have lost the argument against Exile but i feel like i won the one against Physical

physical got primaried

that's why you made this poll? jeez...

i got the idea for the poll after griping on one of the LZ poll threads that Physical is imo one of the weakest of the big classic rock double LPs, yes.

I do recall you making that point, yes.

here is a draft of options for a Part 2 of this poll, if anyone has any suggestions (no live albums and no jazz, both seem like they would be better as separate polls):

The Allman Brothers Band - Eat A Peach (1972)
Amon Düül II – Yeti (1970) – 2×LP, 1×CD - studio
Amon Düül II – Tanz der Lemminge (1971)
The Animals - Love Is (1968)
Bee Gees – Odessa (1969)
Bob Dylan – Self Portrait (1970)
Bob Dylan – The Basement Tapes (1975)
Can – Tago Mago (1973)
Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica (1969(
The Chambers Brothers – Love, Peace and Happiness (1969(
Chicago – The Chicago Transit Authority (1969)
Chicago – Chicago (1970)
Chicago – Chicago III (1971)
Chicago – Chicago VII (1974)
The Clash - London Calling (1979)
Cream – Wheels of Fire (1968)
Derek and the Dominos – Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970)
Donna Summer – Once Upon a Time (1977)
Donna Summer – Bad Girls (1979)
Donovan – A Gift from a Flower to a Garden (1968)
Donovan – H.M.S. Donovan (1971)
Earth, Wind & Fire – Gratitude (1975)
Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue (1977)
Elton John – Blue Moves (1976)
Fleetwood Mac - Tusk (1979)
Funkadelic – America Eats Its Young (1972)
Genesis – The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974)
George Harrison – All Things Must Pass (1970)
Ginger Baker's Air Force – Ginger Baker's Air Force - (1970)
Hawkwind – Space Ritual (1973)
The Incredible String Band – Wee Tam and the Big Huge (1968)
Isaac Hayes – Black Moses (1971)
The Isley Brothers – Winner Takes All (1979)
James Brown – The Payback (1973)
Joni Mitchell – Don Juan's Reckless Daughter (1977)
The Kinks – Everybody's in Show-Biz (1972)
Lou Reed – Metal Machine Music (1975)
Love – Out Here (1969)
Marvin Gaye – Here, My Dear (1978)
Pink Floyd – Ummagumma (1969)
The Rascals – Freedom Suite (1969)
The Rascals – Peaceful World (1971)
Santana – Moonflower (1977)
Soft Machine – Third (1970)
Spirit – Spirit (1973)
Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life (1976)
Stevie Wonder – Journey through the Secret Life of Plants (1979
Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything (1972)
Todd Rundgren – Todd (1974)
Todd Rundgren – Back to the Bars (1978)
The Who - Quadrophenia (1973)
Yoko Ono – Fly (1971)
Frank Zappa – Sheik Yerbouti (1979)
Frank Zappa – Joe's Garage (1979)
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention – Freak Out! (1966)
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention – Uncle Meat (1969)

tales from topographic oceans

oh yes, Yes, sorry, my eyes started to glaze over as i got toward the end of the alphabet there

If you do include the Kinks double, I'd consider Neil's Journey Through the Past. They're both a mish-mash of new stuff and live material. I'd include both or neither.

And I wouldn't include Donna Summer if you're still sticking to the classic-rock concept. I like Donna Summer fine, as I'm sure most people on this board do. But she was anathema to the rock audience then, and you would not ever hear her on a classic-rock station today. (I'd say ditto for Earth, Wind & Fire.)

someone tell me about those rascals double albums

Yeah some of those not really rock, classic or otherwise. But if Odessa is included, I want the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack! There is no greater '70s period piece than that album.

oh yes, Yes, sorry, my eyes started to glaze over as i got toward the end of the alphabet there

otm

Brian Auger & the Trinity - Street Noise

I take it "Kraftwerk" doesn't count?

Need to fix the poll so that we can give a half vote the Byrds' (Untitled).

Hawkwind – Space Ritual (1973)

is a live album btw

I voted honestly - for Exile - but #2 certainly shoulda been Blonde on Blonde, which fucking slays the White Album.

poll option suggestion: Manasass - s/t

(not that it'll get any votes lol)

to be clear, the proposed list above is not supposed to be strictly "classic rock" like this one was. Songs In The Key Of Life is too essential not to include and that opens things up to all sorts of soul/pop/blues/etc. (so yes I will add Kraftwerk)

also albums like Eat A Peach that are half live half studio are probably going to be included unless people would really rather not.

This is where I would really like to have ranking options in polls rather than the radio-button "one or none" option.

Not sure which Kraftwerk double album is referred to here, but if it's what I'm thinking yer thinking, then that's a comp of the first two (single lp) albums. If you want to throw in some noodly synthy Krauts, please add Zeit by Tangerine Dream to the mix.

maybe we can do a 'greatest double albums of all time' ballot poll instead?

i might be a pfunk superfan but america eats it's young doesn't belong on a best double lp list sadly

I like the idea of a double-album poll, the only thing is that it would get very tricky once you move into the CD era, especially when you hit that point where every CD was 60+ minutes (which I'm guessing is longer than one or two above--Blonde on Blonde for sure). "Double album" had lost all meaning by then.

my policy would probably be that anything before, say, 1992 (the year CD sales overtook vinyl) is measured by whether it was double vinyl. anything released after that, only considered a double if it was issued on 2 CDs.

failing that we could keep the poll just 60s/70s/80s...it's not like there's a ton of really important double albums after Daydream Nation

mellon collie?

...so like i said

A 1966-1992 double-LP ballot poll would be a lot of fun.

Make sure you don't include this silly Sons of Champlin double I have from the late '60s.

It's yours - double LP from Wu-Tang Clan!

"Out Here" - Love

Hendrix and the Beatles should be way ahead of everyone else in this. And even then the white album should be several steps ahead. But in the sense of a double allowing an artist to stretch out and veer off more, I think EL tries and achieves so many cool things you couldnt really do on a 45 min album that to me, it's the double album executed as its meant to be. Exile is good but not sure it covers as much ground, it's more about sustaining a particular ambience.

I'd have picked Zeppelin as the most consistent.

For fun, here's my best and worst song on each:

The Rolling Stones - Exile On Main St. "Rocks Off" - "Stop Breaking Down"
The Beatles - The Beatles (The White Album) "Martha My Dear" - "Piggies"
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde "Sad-Eyed Lady" - "Temporary Like Achilles"
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" - "Still Raining"
Pink Floyd - The Wall "Run Like Hell" - "Bring the Boys Back Home"
Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road "Bennie and the Jets" - "Social Disease"
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti "Ten Years Gone" - "Boogie With Stu"
The Who - Tommy "Amazing Journey/Sparks" - "Welcome"

You think "Stop Breaking Down" is the worst song on Exile??? Fucking hell.

hendrix is the only really good thing here, though it's inconsistent. the stones one is the best of their "classics" mainly because jagger is muffled, but i really can't stand their blooze numbers. as for the worst i'm not sure if the arch glibness of the beatles or the overbearing trenchancy of the floyd is more offensive to me. the dylan remains opaque though i assume it's good for what it is, track 1 aside. never seen any reason to be arsed about the who or tommy

is stevie not classic rock enough? he blows all of these away and it's only my 3rd or 4th favourite of his

Hes not a rock artist. Though if this poll crossed out the word rock, I'd have voted that above all of these.

he is, among other things

when did soul/funk/r&b stop being rock? or is it more that rock stopped being r&b?

I get that rock is a passport to many cultural areas denied other genres but must everything have to be defined as rock to make it canon? SITKOL is total brilliance but it's not guitar music. Stevie himself would not call it that.

You think "Stop Breaking Down" is the worst song on Exile??? Fucking hell.

That is kind of insane.

By the way, who voted for "The Wall"?

DJP or jjjusten, looks like

and i think i missed this poll but would have had to go White Album. pop-rock is my home territory and i love a double album that's a big ol variety gift basket of memorable and varied songs as much as it is a sound/mood/hangout with the band.

whereas like, i keep giving Exile shots over the years and i always enjoy it while it's on, and then can't really remember much besides Tumblin' Dice when it's over. but i'm definitely more open to that type of experience than i was as a youth and for the same reason i'm probably way overdue to give Hendrix another chance.

GBYR is severely hampered by its weakest and most cringey songs (especially "Jamaica Jerk-Off" ... ughhhh). otherwise a very very good gift-basket imo.

must everything have to be defined as rock to make it canon

it seems like the definition of rock narrowed a lot around the time of many of these records. you find a lot of 60s music writing talking about e.g. aretha franklin and james brown as rock artists, as if that's uncontroversial. I don't know what changed exactly but I blame jann wenner and richard nixon

unoriginal comparison but exile is a lot like a longer & inferior there's a riot goin on

a song called jamaica jerk off is as good a reason as any to never listen to that elton record

Left, I think it really solidified when progressive/freeform radio became album-oriented rock in the 70s? Famously, Billboard actually stopped running a separate R&B chart for two years from 1963-1965. I don't think there's any obvious musical reason why "Blackbird" or "Comfortably Numb" are more closely descended from Chuck Berry than "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" is, or why Elton John is more 'rock' than Stevie Wonder. That said, "classic rock" refers to a popular and relatively standardized radio format in the US and Canada that includes the music on these albums and does not include much Aretha Franklin, James Brown, or Stevie Wonder.

I can't remember if I voted in this poll but I think it would be white album just over Electric Ladyland and Physical Graffiti.

I didn't imagine so many people liked "Stop Breaking Down"! I find the beat incredibly plodding, and I'm not really looking to the Stones to hear a straight 12-bar blues.

but is it worse than "turd on the run"?

exile and physical graffiti are my top two here easy, tho i need to revisit electric ladyland

It's longer, hence worse, than "Turd on the Run", which is also weak. I only really enjoy about half of Exile, I prefer Beggars Banquet.

xps that makes sense but it's a depressing story. not only totally racist but also made rock boring (even the non boring stuff becomes so in that context)

I remember hearing old farts moaning about destiny's child not being real r&b like the stones (lol)- these categories are still v contested (idk how british that attitude is but for whatever reason we've never been as into Rock despite producing a lot of rock music that we tend to call other things)

"turd on the run" is great, blistering

preferring beggars to exile is a really weird opinion to me but maybe that's why we disagree

beggars is weird and wonderful, but the bleary-eyed hedonistic dystopia of exile is really like nothing else

"Parachute Woman" on Beggars is a straight blues, but the production is so gritty and atmospheric, like a black-and-white newsreel from the 30s. The weaker blues on Exile sound like a bar band by comparison.

What major rock artist should have made an iconic double in the 70s, but didn't? What about Station to Station or Low as double albums?

if i went into a bar and the band was playing torn & frayed and happy and rocks off, i'd never leave

Well, those aren't "weaker blues" like "SBD" or "TOTR".

i definitely prefer beggars to exile. im in the same boat as dr casino where i go back to exile periodically and enjoy it a lot but it washes over me

What major rock artist should have made an iconic double in the 70s, but didn't? What about Station to Station or Low as double albums?

a great question. bowie is an obvious choice - i remember getting ziggy stardust as a kid and being surprised it wasnt a double

Haha, I was about to say that I remember enjoying the overall vibe of Exile well enough but "Tumbling Dice" is the only tune I can ever even recall from it and then I read Dr. Casino's post.

y'all can't remember "sweet virginia" or "ventilator blues" or "loving cup" or "shine a light"? "tumbling dice" is the only real radio play on the album, but it's not as if it's devoid of hooks

Any album Earth, Wind & Fire released between 1973-78 could easily have been a double. Blue Öyster Cult could have had one in 'em, too.

Bowie probably had enough tunes sitting around (including covers) to make Ziggy Stardust into a short double.

I haven't heard it, what do you think of EW&F's actual double, Faces? Was it too late?

a good answer for "who should've released a double album" is neil young, considering how good the archival material from his mid-70s era is

At one point, Ray Davies planned to make Village Green Preservation Society a 20 track double album. Instead, the Kinks' first studio double was Preservation Act 2 in 1974, their first big stumble in 10 years.

Maybe American Stars 'n' Bars would seem less of a jumble if it was twice as long and included some of his better stuff that was unreleased at the time.

I haven't heard it, what do you think of EW&F's actual double, Faces? Was it too late?

It's good, but yeah, I feel like they were past their creative peak by that point.

Quadrophenia should be on the list. The only other artist here who could've managed a second iconic double set is Hendrix -- surely First Rays would've been 2 LPs (all the speculative tracklistings have it as such, anyway).

quadrophenia was a triple lp, no?

fits the spirit tho, i agree

It was 2LP.

ah yes, you're right.

some dude is cowardly for not putting tales from topographic oceans in the poll

Or The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

Most underrated/disdained/ignored studio doubles of the 70s:

Septober Energy - Centipede
America Eats Its Young - Funkadelic
Tales from Topographic Oceans - Yes
Todd - Todd Rundgren
Incantations - Mike Oldfield
Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants - Stevie Wonder

Ha, Tales is the only Yes album from 71-77 that I never pull out. The Lamb is great, though.

yeah, and it doesn't reeeally fit the theme. doesn't approach any of the poll options in cultural stature or commercial success or radio-readiness

the moment has passed but i will take no shit-talking "turd on the run" which is an explosion of techno drone energy from another planet and incredible

"turd in the run" is a good song in a sea of excellent ones, imo. it doesn't really build or go anywhere or keep up that jolt of energy from the opening riff. still fun, though.

Escalator on the Hill is one of these albums despite not really being rock, I'd vote for it

Over the fucking hill

I used to have a commute that allowed me to listen to Tales from Topographic Oceans in full, from walking out my front door to walking in the front door of my job. I did it a surprising amount. I came to really love that album.

Yes-Tales from Topographic Oceans

From a UK perspective, the presence of an Elton John album seems a very weird decision.

Stevie should definitely be on there though.

Escalator on the Hill is one of these albums despite not really being rock, I'd vote for it

There is quite a bit of rock on it though.

a double album walk into work sounds like the ideal commute. maybe not every day but once in a while.

EOTH is a three-LP set, if that matters.

wrong Who it's Quadrophenia